A Quest for Something Beautiful

My teacher wanted me to do the reflections contest that the PTA is holding, so I wrote this story to fit the theme "Beauty is..."

Submitted: November 17, 2009

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Submitted: November 17, 2009

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There in the distance she saw it, shinning brightly in the sun, calling out her name. Her eyes lit up with joy. She wanted it, but knew very well that there was no way for her to go retrieve it.
But then again, she was never one known for giving up.

"Little ones!" she called out. Immediately they appeared, waiting and ready for her commands. It was quiet, and it remained quiet as a slender finger raised in the air and guided the their heads in
the direction of the treasure. The unspoken quest was understood, but not without complaints.

"Why do you want that?" asked the older of the two. "And it's so far away." The woman glared down at her. Silence one again consumed them all. No further objections were made. The woman smiled
before sending them off.

The two marched on, the youngest trailing lightly behind the older. He scanned the area around them, hoping all eyes were distracted.

"W-what if someone sees us?" the youngest stuttered. The older paused for a moment, and only a moment, before continuing on. "H-hey! Wait up!"

"If she wants that treasure, then she'll get it. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think we should go back without it." The youngest nodded in agreement. "Let's get moving, we don’t have much
ti-" Her words were cut off by a soft yet ferocious bark. The two little ones fell silent, fearing they had been caught. They treaded on lightly, dead leaves crunching under their feet over the
soggy grass. The crisp air blew by, rustling the remaining life in the trees above. Fierce eyes watched through clear bars, which didn’t go unnoticed.

The little ones froze, turning to face the gaze that rested heavily upon them. The beast growled and snarled with all its might. The youngest panicked and hid behind his older. She, on the other
hand, laughed.

"Relax," she said. "That tiny creature can't get us. See?" The youngest followed the direction of her extended finger. She was right. Though the beast continued to shriek, there was no way for it
to break out of its cage and get them.

"O-oh…" The older laughed again, patted the youngest on his head, and began walking again.

The trail ahead continued straight on. No winds, no bends, nothing to stop them form reaching their destination.

The oldest held her head high, grinning and cheering when they finally reached the gates undisturbed. The youngest, still slightly more timid than his older, cheered along with her.

"See, I told you we'd make it!" she quietly screamed, not wanting to alert the gate's master to their presence. "Now we need to be very, very quiet. It would be very bad if we got caught now."

The two glanced around. They yapping beast was too far away to draw any attention to them now. They were in the clear. The older let out a relieved sigh and turned to her younger. She held her
palms out flat and low, fingers laced together. The youngest hesitated.

"W-why do I have to do it? Why can't you?" His older rolled her eyes.

"Because I'm too big for you to lift up. And besides, it's not like this is the first time you've done this." She held her palms out again, lowering them enough so he could place his foot on
them.

After a long minute, he finally raised his foot, setting it gently in his older's hands. Once he planted his hands on her shoulders, she lifted him up as high as she could. The youngest reached
his arm over the top, feeling around for the latch.

"I can’t get it." He let out a small grunt, stretching his arm further.

"Watch yourself."

"Wha-" Before he could figure out what was going on, his older pushed his body up higher, sending his top half flying over the gate, his stomach resting on its crown. "Ow…that hurt." He whined.
"But I can reach the latch now." His older giggled lightly as he unhooked the lock.

"Just slide down, I'll catch you." she whispered. The youngest pondered whether of not to trust her, but eventually gave in, sliding his body off the fence. His older stood below him, her arms
around his waist so he wouldn’t fall. Once his feet were firmly planted on the cold grass she let go.

Out of the corner of their eyes they saw it. The brilliant treasure they were sent to retrieve. Though they couldn’t see why it was wanted.

"This is it? This is what we came to get?" the oldest angrily snapped to herself. "Why does she want this stupid thing?" The youngest shrugged his shoulders in response. The older sighed,
frustrated. "Alright, let's just get this think back to her."

The two little ones circled their prize a few times before finally gripping its edges. It was much heavier than it looked.

"A-are we goin' to be a-able to carry this thing all the w-way back?" the youngest grunted, struggling to hold his end up. His older didn’t answer.

The short few feet back to the gate seemed to take hours. No matter how much they wanted to stop and rest they knew they couldn’t. the sun was close to setting, meaning they most dangerous of
beasts would be out.

They quickened their pace as much as the heavy weight they carried would allow them. Darkness began to eat away at the remaining light in the sky. Vision became limited, but the path remained
straight and clear as it had on their way out.

"We should probably hurry." the oldest mumbled. "We don’t want to get caught by the-" He speech was cut short yet again by a loud howling. Such a noise couldn’t come from such a small creature like
they one that tried to get to them last time. No, that howling came from only one kind of beast. One that should never be crossed. The metal dragons.

"Not if we stay calm. If we stay relaxed they'll just pass by. Alright?"

"But-"

"No buts. We need to calm down and hurry. We're already late." The youngest nodded, tightening his grip on the treasure.

Their pace quickened even more, rushing to return so the woman could claim what was hers now. The metal dragoon's passed by as if they weren’t there at all. Everything was goin g exactly as
planned until one of the dragons began to slow, its eyes focusing on them.

"Quick, hide!" the older yelled, quickly setting down her side and ducking behind it. The younger immediately repeated this action.

The beast slowed down even more. The little ones could feel its gaze piercing through them. For a moment they truly believed they were caught, that was until the lights turned away from them and
the dragon left. The two sighed in relief. That was way too close.

"Come on, we really need to hurry now." The two lifted the treasure back up and continued on at the same pace they had before.

Thankfully for them the entryway was opened when they arrived back. The woman rested in a seat along the wall opposite the door. The two slowly entered, making their way towards the center of the
room and offering up their prize.

"Oh, wonderful!" the woman exclaimed. She rose from her spot and met the two in the middle. "Thank you so much." The two bowed before her, then turned their gazes up to her glowing face. "Isn't it
just beautiful?"

"Beautiful?" the older spoke. The woman looked down to her. "But it's all old and broken. How is that beautiful?" The woman laughed.

"'One man's trash is another man's treasure.' Someday you'll understand." The woman laughed lightly. The two children didn’t say another word. All they did was watch as their mother lifted the
old chair off the ground and carry it off to place it in its new home.